Blog Layout
Local, repurposed, and special.
Kathmandu Coast to Coast teams up with local Christchurch company to produce finsher's medal
The nearly twelve hundred athletes competing in this weekend’s 39th Kathmandu Coast to Coast are in for something extra special.
Leaning heaving on their values of looking after the environment and heeding the advice to ‘shop local’ race organisers Trojan Holdings teamed up with world renowned design company, Design Box, a family operated company based in Christchurch, to produce the participants medals and category trophies.
However, what makes these medals extra special is the pendants have all followed the same path as the competitors will, washing out of the Southern Alps before ending up on the shoreline of Canterbury’s beaches before being individually collected and processed by the team at Design Box.
“When we were approached by Glen (Currie) the Race Director, we knew straight away this was something we’d like to be involved with. It’s such an iconic event,” said David Harré, Design Box principal.
“As we started to unpick and discuss the journey of the competitors, the time and care the event takes around sustainability and their Leave no Trace principles, we came quite quickly to sourcing the raw materials such as the stone from the beaches here in Canterbury and the Rimu for the trophies from the bush on the West Coast.”
“Being able to have a pendant like this, that really represents not only the story of the Kathmandu Coast to Coast but also our values of taking care of the environment, will be a very cool memento for the competitors,” said Race Director Glen Currie.
“The values we hold dear to us as an organisation have allowed us to become the oldest multisport event in the country and for us to be able to share those in a tangible way with the competitors is something that we find special. It gives me goose bumps just thinking about how special we think these finishers medals will be,” Currie added.
“Those same values are held by Kathmandu and many of our other partners too, it really is part of the culture of the event.”
“Whether it’s training or competing, you’re out there creating memories, and I think when you’re sitting at home in a few years’ time and you hold the pendant it’ll make all those special memories come flooding back which will be pretty cool too.”
The competitors medals had previously been manufactured offshore, however with the advent of Covid 19 putting a strain on a number of kiwi businesses race organisers made a conscious decision to shift their spending to a local organisation.
“We try to support local organisations as much as possible in everything we do, and this was actually one area where we’d previously been unable to find a suitable outcome locally. But we really took it upon ourselves to make every adjustment to our business that we could and connecting with David was a dream outcome.”
The media team don’t usually let me near the article and press release aspect of the Kathmandu Coast to Coast, and technically, at this time of the year, I should be revising the Health and Safety Plan and finalising operation issues. But one of the reasons I love this job and the event so much is due to the ‘Elite Category’. So, I’m going to pull rank and share my opinions on the race this year.
How would you celebrate 30 years since receiving a life-saving liver transplant? By lining up to tackle the iconic Kathmandu Coast to Coast, of course!
Surviving a perilously close encounter with mortality, Campbell Gray, an inspirational 20-year-old from Jervoistown, Napier, is poised to leave his mark on the 2024 Kathmandu Coast to Coast.
In what promises to be one of the most thrilling showdowns in recent history, the Kathmandu Coast to Coast anticipates an electrifying battle in the Women's Longest Day category.
In a remarkable display of resilience and determination, renowned amputee Shaz Dagg, also known as Limb-it-less Shaz, is attempting to make history as the first female amputee to complete the Kathmandu Coast to Coast as an individual.
In a strategic move to foster the next generation of multisport athletes, The Kathmandu Coast to Coast, New Zealand's iconic multisport event, proudly announces the introduction of the 'Elite Youth' division in the Two-Day individual race.
There’s almost a sort of “Hotel California” thing going with the Kathmandu Coast to Coast: “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” People get hooked, and they keep coming back, either working their way through the various events and age groups or targeting personal bests year by year. Two-time champion Kristina Anglem did manage to check out and for the most part, has left, but not before generating an awful lot of goodwill with fellow competitors, officials and general supporters. Competing initially under her maiden name, Kristina Strode Penny only raced the Coast to Coast on four occasions. Still, she certainly cast a long (warm) shadow over the race and ushered in a new younger group of women who would dominate the event in the years to come. Growing up in Wellington, Kristina’s initial sporting passion was gymnastics, but she retired at the ripe old age of 11. “After that, I always yearned to be out in nature. I would take myself off for walks or runs along the eastern walkway. Wellington is loaded with walkways.” Her two older brothers were keen on bashing about in the outdoors, and one arranged for a mountain bike for his sister. “I rode all the trails, and around the same time, I got into rock climbing and joined the Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club.” Helicopter parents in the new millennium would be horrified by the teenage Kristina’s next move into outdoor sports. “We lived by the sea and got given an old kayak – an old canvas thing that I laugh at now. I would take myself out into the bay and figure out how to roll, then off and yonder in the sea! Looking back at some of those things now as a parent, I’m glad my Mum didn’t have a clue what was going on! I’d paddle out to these rocks and come back – miss the Picton ferry by chance!”
Are you a high school student in New Zealand with a thirst for adventure and a love for the outdoors?
In our second episode of Season 5 Richard Greer from TeamCP provides some key insights including how to best manage your bike, running and kayaking training six months out from race day, along with an event update from our Race Director Glen Currie. Plus, we have previous podcast guest Sophie Beaumont sharing tips and tricks for first-time athletes. Listen online here
The Kathmandu Coast to Coast, New Zealand’s iconic multisport event, recognises the invaluable role of New Zealand's Backcountry Huts in ensuring the enjoyment of all those who experience the wild places of Aotearoa.
